News: FOREX-Dollar held down by doubts over pace of U.S. recovery; bitcoin retreats from record high

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    • Dollar index near two-week low after retreat from two-month high
    • Bitcoin dips below $46,000 a day after hitting record $49,714.66
    • Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

    The dollar started the week pinned near two-week lows on Monday as traders questioned whether the recovery from the pandemic in the United States would be as fast as expected.

    Bitcoin BTC=BTSP remained volatile, retreating to as low as $45,914.75 a day after reaching a record $49,714.66.

    The world's most popular cryptocurrency had rallied 25% last week, driven by endorsements from Tesla TSLA.O and BNY Mellon BK.N .

    The dollar index =USD slipped 0.1% to 90.336, close to last week's low of 90.249 - a level unseen since Jan. 27.

    The gauge hit a two-month top of 91.6 on Feb. 5 on hopes that a U.S. rebound would outpace other major economies, but has since pulled back amid disappointing employment data.

    "Now the market is looking for actual evidence that the U.S. economy is outperforming," said Shinichiro Kadota, senior currency strategist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo.

    "The economic data needs to improve." The euro EUR=EBS edged 0.1% higher to $1.21315, extending last week's 0.6% advance.

    The dollar rose 0.1% to 105.04 yen JPY=EBS , recovering some of the previous week's 0.4% loss.

    Many financial markets in Asia remained closed on Monday for Lunar New Year, with the United States also out for Presidents Day.

    Riskier currencies gained against the greenback, with the Australian dollar adding 0.3% to 77.795 U.S. cents after earlier touching a one-month high of 77.85.

    The British pound appreciated 0.3% to $1.3895 after renewing an almost-three-year high at $1.3901.

    The Chinese yuan reached its strongest level since June 2018 at 6.4012 per dollar in the offshore market CNH=EBS .

    In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin last traded 3.7% lower at $46,852.

    Rival virtual coin ethereum ETH=BTSP , which often trades in tandem with bitcoin, slumped 4.3% to $1,725. It reached a record high of $1,874.98 on Saturday.

    ======================================================== 
    	Currency bid prices at 2:14PM (514 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.2134		$1.2119	 +0.13%		 -0.68%	  +1.2138	 +1.2117 
     Dollar/Yen		JPY=D3	 105.0220	   104.9250	+0.11%		 +1.70%	  +105.1300   +105.0400 
     Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	127.44		 127.14	  +0.24%		 +0.41%	  +127.5200   +127.1800 
     Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.8909		 0.8919	  -0.11%		 +0.70%	  +0.8925	 +0.8908 
     Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 1.3896		 1.3852	  +0.32%		 +1.71%	  +1.3900	 +1.3863 
     Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.2665		 1.2689	  -0.18%		 -0.53%	  +1.2689	 +1.2666 
     Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 0.7783		 0.7760	  +0.32%		 +1.20%	  +0.7784	 +0.7760 
     NZ				NZD=D3	 0.7242		 0.7215	  +0.40%		 +0.88%	  +0.7243	 +0.7207 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    

    All spots FX= Tokyo spots AFX= Europe spots EFX= Volatilities FXVOL= Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX

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    World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 
    
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